Ninja's Masked Singer Appearance Caught Us All By Surprise

Whether you think Tyler "Ninja" Blevins has the pipes or not, seeing him on Fox's The Masked Singer was a surprise to say the least.

The Masked Singer has become a flagship show for Fox in the vein of shows like America’s Got Talent and American Idle. We’ve seen the likes of famous singers and musicians like Donny Osmond, T-Pain, and Tommy Chong take on cartoonish mantles and take the stage while panelists Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy, Robin Thicke, and Nicole Scherzinger tried to guess at who they were and decide who should stay on in the weeks-long singing competition. What we didn’t expect was to see the likes of streamer and Fortnite star Tyler “Ninja” Blevins take the stage in the latest season.

Ninja made his surprise appearance on Season 2, Episode 1 of The Masked Singer, debuting as Ice Cream on September 25, 2019. Though he gave it his all with the likes of songs like “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus and “Whip It” by Devo, Ice Cream couldn’t quite keep cool in the face of stiff competition with “High Hopes” from Panic! At The Disco performed by the Tree costume and “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” by Pat Benatar performed by the Ladybug. Ice Cream was unmasked and Ninja was exposed as a shocking surprise singer in the competition.

Ninja wasn’t the only one eliminated in the Season 2 debut of The Masked Singer. Figure Skater Johnny Weir, under the guise of the Egg costume was also eliminated after his “Just Dance” by Lady Gaga and “One Way or Another” by Blondie failed to hold up to the competition. That said, where Johnny Weir was an interesting pick, Ninja was outright mindblowing. His performance of “Whip It” actually wasn’t that bad if we could say so ourselves.

Ninja has also been in the news talking gaming up on talk shows on Fox alongside the likes of esports consultant Rod “Slasher” Breslau. To us, it’s another crossover of gaming into pop culture and an intersection of traditional media and esports, so even though Ninja lost the competition, we’ll thank him for carrying that flag. Better luck next time, Ice Cream.